In this extract taken from Mindfulness and the Arts Therapies, edited by Laury Rappaport, Pat B. Allen introduces the way in which mindfulness is incorporated into the Open Studio Process, and describes the challenges and rewards of using this process with a group of adolescent boys. She explains her own reaction when the boys were invited to provide their own music for the art-making portion of a session, and how she found she could rely on the creative process as a positive form of support.
I read this extract because I am about to embark on 6 school holiday, Art Therapy/Tuition workshops for teenagers in a Detention Centre for asylum seekers. I am glad I did read it, and I will be buying the book. Including the transpersonal into art therapy is the key to healing on many levels, I believe. I look forward to more of the wisdom of this book. Pat Mepham